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TravelNetherlands

Netherlands: Computer glitch leaves rail passengers stranded

June 5, 2023

The technical glitch caused an outage that brought major international and domestic train services to a halt. Hundreds of passengers were left stranded overnight.

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Empty platforms at Amsterdam's main station
The normally busy Amsterdam main station was left empty after the technical glitch halted all servicesImage: Koen Laureij/ANP/AFP via Getty Images

Domestic rail services to the Dutch capital Amsterdam, as well as services to and from London, Brussels, Paris and Berlin, were massively disrupted from Sunday evening to Monday morning after a computer system suffered a technical glitch.

Dutch rail authorities announced the outage at 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT), saying they hoped to have things resolved in a few hours, but services only slowly began to come back online from 0700 GMT on Monday.

"From 9:00 am (0700 GMT) trains around Amsterdam will start running again," the government agency in charge of the rail network ProRail said in a statement, adding that there would "be disruptions for the rest of the morning."

The glitch mainly affected Amsterdam Central Station and the capital's Schiphol Airport — one of the busiest travel hubs in Europe.

Stranded concert-goers given shelter and food

Hundreds of people were left stranded on Sunday evening at the main stations in Amsterdam and Utrecht as they were unable to return home.

Some 500 people were able to spend the night at the Ziggo Dome concert hall in Amsterdam. They were mostly fans who had attended concerts by British pop star Harry Styles as well as a separate concert by Swedish metal band Ghost, Dutch news agency ANP reported.

They were reportedly also offered sleeping bags, food and drinks.

The photo shows camping beds layed out in the Jaarbeurs, made available to train passengers who are stranded at Utrecht Central rail station after the traffic was stopped
Emergency beds were also laid out for passengers trapped at Utrecht main stationImage: Koen Laureij/ANP/AFP via Getty Images

But hundreds more were left sleeping in stationary trains that station staff opened for them.

"We did not get anything to eat and no information or anything that was going on," one angry passenger told the NOS public broadcaster.

"We feel left in the lurch," she said, standing outside Amsterdam's main station.

ProRail said it was investigating the cause of the outage and apologized to those whose travel plans were disrupted.

ab/kb (AFP, Reuters)